Podcasting with gorillas, pandas, and elephants

Just back from an adventure at Uganda’s Bwindi Impenetrable National Park, Dr. Nikhil Advani wanted to share his thoughts on climate change adaptation.

Like many scientists, Dr. Advani is on the lookout for new ways to communicate and deliver his science to a broad audience. Dr. Advani found podcasts as one innovative avenue to share his science when he appeared on the podcast America Adapts to discuss his work on adaptation at the World Wildlife Fund where he is the senior program officer for adaptation. It’s a forum he encourages other scientists to utilize.

“I never really listened to podcasts until I recorded this one, now I’m hooked,” he said of the experience.

Photo by Nikhil Advani

The World Wildlife Fund has a presence all over the world and is a leader in adaptation planning. Some of the species they are currently working on include: African elephants, Asian elephants, snow leopards and mountain gorillas. Dr. Advani explains that each of these species has undergone a vulnerability assessment; a key climate planning tool that details the vulnerability of that species.

Dr. Advani and podcast host Doug Parsons, even discuss the challenges and opportunities of working with such charismatic megafauna. Nikhil determines, definitely, that pandas will not become an invasive species in a warming world. Good to know. Other topics covered include crowdsourcing as a way to to empower local communities to help gather critical information to be used in future adaptation planning.

Dr. Nikhil Advani

Podcasting has quickly become a popular platform to discuss ideas in depth. A podcast encourages a more robust conversation where you can really dig into a topic. Unlike a webinar or even a journal article, a podcast provides a give and take environment to learn more about an issue. Dr. Advani noted that so much information was covered in his conversation on America Adapts that he now directs people straight to his podcast when they want to learn more about what WWF is doing on climate change adaptation.

Meet the Author

The Society for Conservation Biology (SCB) is an international professional organization dedicated to promoting the scientific study of the phenomena that affect the maintenance, loss, and restoration of biological diversity. The Society's membership comprises a wide range of people interested in the conservation and study of biological diversity: resource managers, educators, government and private conservation workers, and students make up the more than 5,000 members world-wide. The Society was founded in Ann Arbor, Michigan, on May 8, 1985. Find out more about the inspiring history of the Society for Conservation Biology.

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Researchers, conservationists, and others share stories, insights and ideas about Our Changing Planet, Wildlife & Wild Spaces, and The Human Journey. More than 50,000 comments have been added to 10,000 posts. Explore the list alongside to dive deeper into some of the most popular categories of the National Geographic Society’s conversation platform Voices.

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About the Blog

Researchers, conservationists, and others share stories, insights and ideas about Our Changing Planet, Wildlife & Wild Spaces, and The Human Journey. More than 50,000 comments have been added to 10,000 posts. Explore the list alongside to dive deeper into some of the most popular categories of the National Geographic Society’s conversation platform Voices.

Opinions are those of the blogger and/or the blogger’s organization, and not necessarily those of the National Geographic Society. Posters of blogs and comments are required to observe National Geographic’s community rules and other terms of service.